Funny enough, I'm in religion class and we are talking about primal religions. Apparently the Lakota tribe's 16 deities are derived from the idea of 4 times 4. The number four is a sacred number and the text explains that this refers to the four cardinal directions. So this led me to the question: did they have an understanding of the compass and the earth's magnetic fields? Or were they merely introduced to it by European's?
I have read many books on Native Americans and have never read about them using a compass. This would make sense considering they were several hundred years behind the Europeans as far as advancements in agriculture and other technology are concerned.
Another reason I believe they did not understand the use of a compass is because Native Americans chose to use nature as much as possible. I have read about them using guide posts in the forest to help navigate the wilderness.
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